Bella Sky must allow men in its women-only hotel rooms

Four-star hotel found guilty of discrimination for banning men from the Bella Donna floor

Stabbings in Copenhagen over the weekend send three to hospital (Photo: PublicDomainPictures)

April 25th, 2014 3:28 pm| by admin

If you're a single woman looking for a hotel room with free hair straighteners, yoga mats and no interruptions from unwelcome male guests, go somewhere else other than Denmark.

The Eastern High Court found Bella Sky Comwell Hotel guilty of gender discrimination and of violating the Equality Act on Friday, after the four-star hotel reserved 20 rooms on the 17th floor for women only.

"Borderline ridiculous" The court's ruling means that the hotel from now on, starting tomorrow, must allow men to book into the rooms designed exclusively for women.

"The case is a trivial matter and it should never have been conducted," Allan Agerholm, the head of Bella Sky, told Berlingske.

"We never discriminated against anyone. It's too bad that we can't aim our products at a certain target group simply because of some rigid interpretation of the Danish Equality Act. It's sad and borderline ridiculous."

Agerholm added that the hotel at least had received at lot of publicity since the case began.

Boys not allowed The 'Bella Donna' floor was designed in 2011 in response to female travellers who had asked for added security, but two men ended up suing the hotel, accusing it of discrimination and demonising men.

Secure and private women-only floors are gaining popularity in the UK, Canada, the US and Singapore among the growing number of women travelling solo.

Among the hotels offering female-only floors are Dukes Hotel in London (UK), Georgian Court Hotel in Vancouver (Canada) and Crowne Placa in Minneapolis (USA).